‘Death by a thousand cuts’ Appeal lodged to stop infilling of a former Longford quarry

An environmental charity has lodged an appeal against the infilling of a former north Longford quarry after the development was recently given the green light by planners.

Longford County Council approved planning permission on March 10 last.

The development was given ‘conditional’ approval once six conditions were abided by.

However, Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) has lodged a formal planning appeal against the local authority’s decision to allow the infilling of what the describe as ‘resulted former quarry’ at The Rocks, Derrycassan, opposite St Columba’s GAA grounds, Mullinalaghta and the Derrycassan Woods Walk near Lough Gowna.

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The FIE said the council has granted permission to ‘import 100,000 tonnes of soil, stone and construction and demolition waste over five years’ and to “reinstate” the quarry for agriculture, despite the site having naturally regenerated over four decades into wet willow woodland, scrub, wetland features and mature treelines that now support protected species”.

FIE said the decision flatly contradicts Longford’s own new Biodiversity Action Plan and County Development Plan.

FIE say that both plans promise to protect wildlife corridors, wetlands and tree cover, and to avoid the “death by a thousand cuts” that slowly erodes local nature.

Tony Lowes, one of the Director of Friends of the Irish Environment, said, “The Council has only just adopted an ambitious Biodiversity Action Plan – and the first real test is to sign off on the destruction of exactly the kind of semi‑natural habitat that Plan was written to save.

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“You could not have a clearer case of saying one thing to the public while doing the opposite on the ground.”

The FIE claim the quarry sits on what the National Parks and Wildlife Service has described as a “biological motorway” of wet woodland linking Derrycassan Wood and Lough Gowna, a proposed Natural Heritage Area and a vital local amenity for angling, swimming and family recreation.

They said recent All‑Ireland bat monitoring shows Derrycassin Woods holds the highest recorded activity of Whiskered bats in Ireland – one of the country’s rarest woodland bats protected under EU law – underlining the importance of keeping this corridor intact.

Whiskered bats switch roost every two-to-five days and move along treelines and hedgerows, so they need a wide, continuous network of woodland and scrub, not just one protected roost.

FIE’s appeal argues and claims that the council ‘ignored its statutory biodiversity duties and key National Planning Framework objectives that favour retaining existing habitats over trying to recreate them later’.

They also claim it did not properly assess water‑quality risks to the Lough Gowna groundwater body and the Mulrick watercourse, despite Inland Fisheries Ireland warning that construction and demolition material could threaten already at‑risk waters.